Far From Perfect

Chapter 36

Silence surrounds me as seconds slowly turn to minutes, filling me with dread. I wait with bated breath, my heart in the pit of my stomach, hoping and praying for any sign that Nate's going to be okay but nothing happens.

I feel my stomach churn at the thought of losing Nate and curse Miranda for what she did to him. I'm not sure what happened after I left him last night but my gut tells me she drugged him just to make me believe she slept with him.

Why?

Why did she need to take things so far? Nate didn't deserve this. Any of this.

I never wanted things to get to this point. I mean, who would? No one wants to see the person they love suffering like this.

I sob, feeling my heart shatter all over again and press my face to Nate's shoulder, wishing things hadn't gotten to this point.

"Why Nate? Why? You didn't deserve this. Any of this. I hurt you. Miranda hurt you. You deserve so much better than this," I whisper to him knowing I'll get no response but deep down, a part of me hopes he hears me. "If you wake up from this, I promise to leave you if that's what you want. Just don't die on me, please. I don't want to live in a world where you're not in it," I say in between tears. "If you want to be with someone else, it'll hurt me but I promise to try and be happy for you. I do. Just whatever you do, don't leave me. Please," I beg as a tear slips down my cheek.

I close my eyes and let my head slump back against the shower wall in defeat when I hear a barely discernible, "Never."

I whip my head in Nate's direction and see that his eyes are now open. He looks at me with so much emotion in his eyes I can't help but feel my heart gallop and soar.

"Nate?!" I say in relief. "You didn't leave me!" I wrap my arms around his neck and hug him so hard as I cry into his shoulder. "Thank you for staying with me," I whisper to him. "I was so scared I was going to lose you," I confess as I fight back a sob.

He's going to be okay.

I pull away from him and watch his eyes fall shut again. The moment is short-lived, but I'm just thankful to see that he's still with me. I get back on my knees and kiss his forehead before leaving his side to shut off the water.

I quickly hurry back to Nate's side and nearly slip on my way back like the klutz I am, but thankfully make it back to his side in one piece and get on my knees. I carefully slide him back down on the blanket, making sure to be extra careful with his head.

I take in his unconscious form on the blanket and know it's going to be harder to move him this time around because he's drenched and the blanket is wet now but it's better than nothing. I stand up and bend over, grabbing the ends of the blanket closest to his head and slowly turn him inside the shower until he's facing the door of the shower and slide him out onto the bathroom floor.

I take a quick five-second breather, well more like a minute because the man is heavy, before dragging him the rest of the way to his room. I get him as close to the end of the bed as I can before laying him down carefully on the carpet, making sure he can't hurt himself if he wakes up and moves. I walk over to where his feet rest and pull off his sopping wet shoes and socks and throw them to the side, not caring where they land, before moving onto his jeans. I pop the button on his jeans and gulp as I pull the zipper down.

"Nate, I'm so sorry. This is not how I imagined taking your clothes off the first time," I tell him, wanting to bring a little humor to this whole god awful situation. I stand over him and bend over so I can reach the belt loops on the sides of his jeans and pull on them but his pants don't budge an inch. I sigh and curse my luck.